A Different Price
by Traitor of All Traitors
Summary: Dorian Gray gets a taste of a second chance and much more.


Creation began on 10-13-10

Creation ended on 11-11-10

Dorian Gray

A Different Price

A/N: I've looked at the 2009 film _Dorian Gray_ a few times, particularly the trailer, and found that, if Dorian did repent for his sins, he could've been saved differently than how the film ended. If, by some miracle, he was absolved of his crimes, the deterioration done to his painting, which, in my opinion, represented the real him when he became corrupted, he could've lived a good life with Emily Wotton. Or if he never jokingly sold his soul in exchange for eternal youth and beauty, he'd have a life with Sibyl instead of wasting it in the pursuit of pleasure. If we could see our own souls, we could absolve the horrors of our actions and save ourselves from damnation. Plus, I enjoyed the music from the trailer, _Catch the Falling Sky_. Here we go.

So this was what there was for Dorian Gray after putting an end to himself? An eternity of darkness? Deprived of light and warmth? As he lay there on the ground, his body so deteriorated, he could barely breathe without feeling pain. It was to save Emily from the life he'd lived within the life he'd live. A life of murder to protect his horrible secret. To protect his painting that used to show such beauty when Basil painted it, only to deteriorate into such ugliness and wretchedness.

_I hope that she finds happiness,_ he thought. _I hope they all find happiness, wherever they may go._

"What, and you not be entitled to some redemption?" He heard a voice say to him in the darkness. "I've seen your actions, Dorian. Like when you tried to end the torment that night you took Emily home to spare her a potential death, only to feel defeated. I saw when you tried to confess your sins, only to be defeated again. You were tired and afraid; tired of living the life of a hedonist and afraid of death. It's understandable and acceptable. I'm here to absolve you for your mistakes and give you what you deserve and need."

Dorian looked around and saw no one there; was he hearing voices in his head?

Then, someone stepped over to where he lay: A young man, dark as the night and with a voice as young as a gentleman's.

"Who…are…you?" Dorian wheezed; his age having caught up with him and leaving him weakened.

"I am a brother of all that have souls residing within them…and without, and a corrector of mistakes, past, present and future." He told him, crouching down to give him a better look at his face. "I'm Brother Correction, here to correct your mistakes by giving you a second chance at life. You're not in Hell. Yet. But you can avoid that by doing the right thing, by taking back what you said that fateful day and continuing your life as it was before the pursuit of pleasure."

"I…don't deserve…a second…chance." Dorian told him.

"Yes, you do, and I'll tell you why: Sibyl wants to have a life with you still. She wants to be your wife and a mother to your child that was growing inside her womb. I spoke with her and she wishes to begin anew with you, the only man she ever loved. You owe her that much. You don't deserve to live your eternity in darkness and despair, you deserve the chance to ascend to the heavens with a dirty slate wiped clean and given a new start."

A long silence came and went between them, Dorian having said nothing to indicate he was listening to him entirely.

"I'll give you an hour to make your decision," Brother Correction told him. "And, for what it's worth, I believe you can have a good life with her if you wanted to. I've given many people a second chance when they deserved it and they have lived greater lives up to their last day, dying in old age but knowing it was a second life well spent. Think about it, Dorian."

He then vanished from the decayed man's sight, leaving him to ponder such a choice. To even think of the possibilities of living his life with a clean slate, why, why, they were similar to his desires to undo the damages he'd inflicted upon himself by means of the painting. He still wanted to be free from the tainted passions, to be a new man filled with goodness. He asked for help, and this man, this…god was here to help.

An hour past and Brother Correction returned, seeing the withered visage of Dorian Gray whimpering.

"Are you alright, Dorian?" He asked him.

"Does…does the offer to return to life, to have a second chance at happiness…still stand?" Dorian asked him, looking up.

"Yes, and after taking more time to think it over, if you do your second chance right, much more happiness will follow you. Many mistakes in your life were made and must be undone. Well, what is your answer, Dorian Gray?" He told him.

"I…I want to be free from this pain. I want to be a new man with a clean slate. Please, I want to be good again."

Correction lowered down to grab his right hand, seeing how degenerated it had become with age and sin, caressing it soothingly as he told him, "Then think back to your past, back to before you made the deal that sealed your corruption. Think back to what Henry had asked you when you thought about your darkest thoughts relating to your painting…and what Basil had uttered of things being precious because they never last. Recall yourself standing there in that room, facing your portrait and you'll know what must be done to ensure your redemption."

As the withered old man recalled his past, his world darkened to nothingness. He and Brother Correction had faded from existence.

_Embrace the power of a second chance,_ Correction's voice echoed in darkness.

"…Would you, Dorian?" Henry Wotton asked the youthful Dorian Gray, who looked at his painting with envy.

The young man turned to face the elder man, who asked him again if he would actually trade in his soul for youth and beauty.

"…No," Dorian answered him. "I wouldn't really do it. I wouldn't like the consequences."

Henry chuckled, actually believing that he would say that he would and remain as he was in the painting instead of growing old.

It wasn't long until Dorian met his first love, Sibyl at the theater where she performed, and she eventually became his only love after a few weeks of being together. He proposed and she accepted, despite Henry telling him that if they had children, it would mean the end of everything relating to pleasure. But Dorian stood by what Basil had said earlier: "Things are more precious because they don't last." They were then married and Sibyl moved into Dorian's family estate, where she met his parents (the extra happiness given to Dorian by Brother Correction when he brought them back to life to live with their formally orphan son). Then, exactly nine months later, Dorian and Sibyl were blessed with their first child, a boy they had named Dorian Junior, due to the elder Mrs. Gray saying that he reminded her of her own Dorian.

_Gray Epilogue_

Many years had passed and Dorian Junior had grown into a beautiful young man that just as handsome as his father, but with his mother's eyes. Whenever people saw him, they often thought that he was actually the Dorian Gray that they knew and fancied, only to be reminded that he only looked like his father, who had aged a great amount with his beloved wife, Sibyl. No longer was their Dorian a handsome man, but another gentleman that showed respect, unlike the subtle behavior of Henry, who had to cut back on his thrill-seeking in order to raise his daughter, Emily, whom Dorian's son was dating; love at first sight. When the elder Wotton found out that his friend's child was seeing his, he was left in awe and surprise, never thinking that the look-alike son of Dorian would be interested in seeing Emily, who fancied photography, almost as much as Dorian Junior fancied art due to taking lessons from the aged Basil.

Basil, on the other hand, several years after he painted Dorian's portrait, had been asked by Dorian to paint a portrait of the family, to capture not the beauty of their faces, but the happiness that they had attained from being together for so long. There were often times where he looked at Dorian's portrait, unchanged by the span of time, and wished he could just paint Dorian Junior to fool people that it was his father's portrait in order to get a good laugh from their confusion.

"That's the thing about paintings," he told himself. "They never age…and never scar."

There were even times, where in the dead of night, Dorian had dreams where he met this man that he was often sure he hadn't seen before, but then realized that he had seen him before…in another place and time.

"Is this the life you've always longed for?" The dark man asked him.

"Yes," Dorian told him. "This is a life I've wanted for a long time now."

"Then you should enjoy it while you still can, and cherish each moment spent in the day. You never know when it'll be your last." The man told him, his voice showing only kindness instead of cruelty or malice toward the aged Dorian. "When you pass on, may your soul be taken to paradise."

Then, the next thing Dorian knew, he was waking up to the next day.

The End.

A/N: Well, there you go. I just wanted to finish this off as fast as possible and move onto other stories. This is what I think could've happened if Dorian was given a second chance to turn things around for himself and others. Peace be with you.


End file.
